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2054 Lake Kivu eruption
On October 12, 2054, a landslide from Mount Nyiragongo triggered a catastrophic limnic eruption of Lake Kivu, located on the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The sudden eruption released roughly 290 cubic kilometers of gas, mostly carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), which then descended over the nearby cities, towns and villages of the region, suffocating hundreds of thousands of people and killing nearly everything within a 86 mile (138 km) radius. An estimated 2,108,000 people perished during and in the immediate aftermath of the eruption, with hundreds of thousands more injured and millions more estimated dead from famines and diseases in the aftermath, ranking it as one of the world's deadliest natural disasters, if not the deadliest one. Background Main article: Lake Kivu Limnic eruptions are a rare type of natural disaster, that occur in only a few of Earth's lakes. They happen when dissolved carbon dioxide in deep lake waters suddenly erupts to the surface, forming a gas cloud that then descends to the surface, suffocating anything living in its path. In history, only two limnic eruptions have been recorded - the 1984 eruption of Lake Monoun and the 1986 eruption of the neighboring Lake Nyos, the latter one killing over 1,700 people. After these two events, examination of possible future eruptions began to be undertaken. It was determined that Lake Kivu, located on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, was another lake where very high amounts of natural gases were hidden underwater. However, Lake Kivu was determined to be a much bigger threat than the other 2 lakes, because of the large amount of people living on its shores and its size. In 2028, scientists estimated that the lake became saturated with gases, and anything could set it off and cause it to erupt. Many possible solutions were suggested, but none were found to be effective, including degassing tubes. An outpost was built on the shore of the lake, from which several people observed the lake for possible signs of an outgassing event occurring. On October 10, 2054, an unusually intense storm arrived over the general region in which the lake was located. The storm, fueled by the remnants of Cyclone Janigda which dissipated two weeks prior, dumped over 17 inches of rain in the area in just a day, and caused severe flooding in the cities. Lake Kivu's water level rose by half an inch, and the flooding caused by the rainfall event killed 75 people. Just a day later, another storm arrived, dumping 3 more inches in the area. By this time, scientists voiced their concerns that any landslide could potentially trigger the outgassing event. The governments of Democratic Republic of the Congo and wikipedia:Rwanda undertook mass-scale evacuations over much of October 11, however many people refused to leave, possibly due to disbelief that a disaster was about to occur. Eruption Casualties Aftermath See also Category:Future disasters Category:Deadly Events Category:Deadly disasters Category:Destructive events Category:Destructive disasters Category:Limnic eruptions Category:Events in the 2050s Category:Prism55Writes